Children

After almost a year of giving I get a number of emails on a regular basis from organizations I have made donations to through my giving journey. One such letter I received this week was from World Vision. I was so touched by this request I wanted to share it with you.

I am not a religious person, I do not attend church nor do I have a specific God that I worship. But I do believe in the power of people coming together and putting their collective energy towards common good. I have made a number of cash donations to support the relief effots in Africa but today I will give in a different way.

I will send my energy (a prayer) to the people of Africa and to all the organizations that are desperately trying to help.

Today we can all take moment to give and send some positive energy (a prayer) out into the universe to the people of Africa that are suffering so desperately in hopes they get the help they need before it’s to late.

Today my give is a prayer to the people in the Horn of Africa.

Give 334: Day 334 A Letter from World Vision

Dear Friend,

I’m writing today with a different kind of request. Would you take a few minutes to pray? Here’s why: There are 750,000 people who could starve to death in the next four months in an area of Somalia that aid agencies have not been able to reach.

This situation is horrific and avoidable. Families are walking 100 miles in search of aid, and often only the strongest survive the journey. In many cases, women are burying their children on the side of the road as they flee. This tragedy breaks my heart.

In the middle of the famine, in South-Central Somalia, we aren’t even able to reach these starving children. World Vision had deep, long-term community relationships in Somalia since 1992, but we were forced to leave this part of the country in 2010. Armed groups demanded most aid organizations leave.

It is horrible knowing that we have been prevented from rescuing starving people. Our work elsewhere in East Africa is saving lives,

where we are distributing therapeutic food for children, clean water, sturdy tents, and essential medical care.

You can imagine the needs of a family who has walked for days without food and very little water, a mother and a father who have just buried their children. The needs there are great. Yet governments and private donors have provided less than half of what the world needs to adequately respond.

Please pray.

We need safe access to help starving people. We need the resources to adequately care for the half million people now in overcrowded refugee camps. To achieve this, we need a breakthrough.

Please join us in prayer that World Vision and other aid organizations would be able to access the regions in Somalia where three quarters of a million people could starve to death. And pray for the financial resources to complete this job. I know that with your prayer, we can do this. “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.'” — Mark 10:27 (NIV)

After 333 days of giving I have had the opportunity to connect with people from all over the world. I have come to realize the challenges that so many organizations face to raise money for their charities.

One specific place is Africa.

Making a donation with one click through paypal is not always that simple. Due to tax rules and regulations many of the small organizations started by individuals that want to help this struggling nation have difficulty getting the funding they need.

This is the case with my friend Joe. His story is one of inspiration and courage of one individual that is trying to create great change in Kenya but the challenges are great and funding even less. Bringing awareness to the remarkable people that are stepping up to help so many is the least I can do to give back to the people of Kenya.

If Joseph can can have passion and commitment to make change in Kenya can’t we all have the courage to do something to change the world every day?

My name is Joseph Muinde. I grew up in a poor traditional family and learned the act of survival at a young age. I gained the virtues of tolerance, courage, resistance, patience and teamwork. I inherited from my late late father the values of hardwork, individual responsibility self-reliance, honesty, faith, respect for other people, kindness and sense of empathy.

The Dream

My school life was a rough and dusty road. Lack of school tuition fees was the greatest obstacle that almost brought my career and dreams to a halt.

But I had a dream…

To change life amongst the poor.

To one day engage the marginalized rural communities in Africa including women, men and children.

To fight for justice, equity and their right to education.

To eradicate poverty.

Creating the Change

After completing my education I realized that people in the rural areas in Kenya were still living in the same desperately poor conditions as before. Poverty levels had worsened and many children have dropped out of school due to lack of school fees. Children are becoming malnourished. People were dieing due to limited access of medicine. Water is a serious problem. Women walk long distances in search of clean drinking water. Children (especially girls) drop out of school in order to go searching for water. The situation of hunger and the extreme levels of illiteracy,poverty and suffering made me think!

I decided to start an NGO. The Muinde Kaviri Foundation aims at helping the marginalized communities to become self-reliant, to alleviate poverty and to economically empower the poor rural communities. We want to do capacity building and to educate the communities to acquire knowledge and skills in dealing with their economic problems.

Please take a moment to see our mission and help us to realize our dreams.

“Free the child’s potential and you will transform him into the world”

Maria Montesorri

Day 332: Give 332

My son just started Montesorri preschool a week ago and this give is in his honour as he begins his reading journey to discover the world.

I have been reading to my son since he was a baby. We are blessed with a large library of children’s books that take us around the world having great adventures every night before we go to bed. He is so excited to learn to read.

I could’t imagine what it would be like not have the luxury of books to feed his little mind. But there are many children all over the world that don’t have the luxury of books. There are not public library’s in every neighbourhood nor the money to afford such luxuries as a book for your child.

Here are a few quick facts on literacy around the world (quoted from DoSomething.org)

One in five adults in the developing world — almost 862 million people — cannot read or write.